MOSCOW — After paying their final tributes Tuesday to slain Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, many members of Russia’s beleaguered opposition are looking into the future with gloom.
The sadness and loss that drew thousands to Nemtsov’s funeral is unlikely to add vigor to the small and marginalized opposition, or to dent the broad public support for President Vladimir Putin.
Many believe that his shooting death on a bridge near the Kremlin wouldn’t have been possible without official involvement, and that sends a chilling signal to government opponents, who fear it could herald a new, brutal era of reprisals.
Thousands of mourners and dignitaries filed past Nemtsov’s white-lined coffin, and many wept as they offered flowers.
“He was our ray of light. With his help, I think Russia would have risen up and become a strong country,” said 80-year-old Valentina Gorbatova.
So many came that when the viewing ended after its scheduled four hours, a line still stretched for hundreds of yards outside the hall named for the Soviet-era dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov.
Mourner Marsel Shamsudinov said he had come from Kazan, 450 miles east of Moscow, to show that unlike the vast majority of Russians who watch nothing but state-run TV, there are people “who do think and see that the government system is unfair and that we need to change a lot in our country.”
But while feelings of anger and grief ran strong at the funeral, few believe that the opposition — fragmented and weakened after years of relentless crackdowns — could pose a serious challenge to Putin, who is supported by 85 percent of Russians, according to recent polls.
Kremlin critics say the virulent nationalist propaganda on state television, which cast the 55-year-old Nemtsov and other liberals as Western stooges, helped prepare the ground for his killing Friday night.
Nemtsov had been a deputy prime minister under Russia’s first elected president, Boris Yeltsin, who touted him as his likely successor before opting instead for Putin. Although his influence in mainstream politics vanished, Nemtsov had remained one of Putin’s most vehement critics. In a radio interview a few hours before his death, he denounced the president for his “mad, aggressive” policies in Ukraine.
Putin dubbed Nemtsov’s killing a “provocation,” and nationwide TV networks quickly picked up the theme, blaming Western intelligence agencies, Ukrainian agents or even the opposition. They focused on a 23-year-old Ukrainian model who was with Nemtsov when he was slain.
The nation’s top investigative agency echoed Putin’s comments, saying it was looking into whether Nemtsov had been a “sacrificial victim” to destabilize Russia. It said it was investigating whether Islamic extremism, the Ukraine conflict and Nemtsov’s personal life were possible motives.
No suspects have been arrested. Divers searched for the gun in the Moscow River under the bridge where Nemtsov was killed by four shots in the back.
The area is always packed with uniformed and plainclothes agents and security cameras, making it hard for any attacker to go unnoticed. Kremlin critics say Nemtsov was under close surveillance, implying possible official involvement in the murder.
Among those mourning Nemtsov were U.S. Ambassador John Tefft; Russian Deputy Prime Ministers Sergei Prikhodko and Arkady Dvorkovich; tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov, the owner of the Brooklyn Nets who ran against Putin in 2012; and Yeltsin’s widow, Naina.
Former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, who has joined the opposition, also was there, as was Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of the dissident punk group Pussy Riot.
Polish and Latvian lawmakers were prevented from entering Russia for the funeral. They were barred from the country in retaliation for European Union sanctions against Moscow in the Ukraine crisis.
